Survivors of a horrific attack at a mosque in New Zealand have revealed how they prayed for the white Australian right-wing terrorist's bullets to run out while he killed 49 people around them and left 48 others injured.

The gunman, who identified himself as Brenton Tarrant from Grafton, NSW, Australia, stormed the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch and began shooting just as Friday prayers began.

Now, worshippers have revealed how they played dead while praying for the gunman to run out of bullets.

Others say they hid while the shooter moved from room to room and opened fire on anyone he came across.

This survivor, who doesn't wish to be named, revealed how the man next to him was shot in the chest and how he prayed the gunman would run out of bullets

One survivor, who doesn't wish to be named, told CNN that he saw the man next to him get shot in the chest.

He said: 'I was thinking that he must run out of bullets. I waited for that and prayed 'Oh God, please let this man run out of bullets'.

'When he stopped the first time I went but the guy sitting beside me told me ''no, no''.

'Next thing, the shooter came and shot this guy who told me not to get up.

'I know that guy. He shot him right in the chest.'

He later added: 'The blood was splashing on me, and I was thinking 'oh my God, oh my God, this is going to happen to me now'.

Idris Khairuddin, 14, told the Sun: 'At first I thought it was just like construction work or something, then people were all running and screaming.

'My uncle got shot in his backside, I am just praying it is not too serious.'

People who survived the attack standing outside the mosque, with some of them still covered in blood

'This week is the first time I went to the mosque...I am still shaking, and I am traumatised.'

A man inside the mosque at the time of the shooting said there 'bodies all over me'.

Witnesses inside the mosque reported seeing 15 people being shot, including children.

A man who escaped the mosque during the shooting said he saw his wife lying dead on the footpath.

'My wife is dead,' he said while wailing.

Witnesses reported hearing 50 shots and police are responding to the incident at Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch on the country's South Island

At least one gunman has opened fire at a mosque in New Zealand , shooting at children and killing dozens of people

Survivors gather near the Al Noor Mosque on Deans Road hours after the place of worship was attacked

A man who escaped the mosque during the shooting said he saw his wife lying dead on the footpath

One survivor said he was one of the last people to leave the mosque and said that he had also prayed that the gunman would run out of bullets.

He said: 'It took me half an hour before my shaking stopped

'I don't know whether my brother is safe or not.'

The Bangladesh cricket team was also caught up in the attack and were forced to flee from the mosque.

Team manager Khaled Mashud said he saw 'bloodstained people staggering out of the mosque' as his side narrowly avoided being caught up in the Christchurch shootings.

All but a couple of members of the Bangladesh side were on a bus heading to one of the mosques - on the eve of the now cancelled third Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval - when the attack was in progress.

Witnesses inside the mosque reported seeing 15 people being shot, including children

Police escort people away from outside one of the mosques targeting in the shooting

A man reacts as he speaks on a mobile phone near a mosque in central Christchurch, New Zealand

Witness Ahmad Al-Mahmoud described one of the shooters as being white, with blond hair and wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest.

'The guy was wearing like an army [suit]. He had a big gun and lots of bullets. He came through and started shooting everyone in the mosque, everywhere,' Ahmad Al-Mahmoud told Stuff.

'They had to smash the door - the glass from the window and the door - to get everyone out.

'We were trying to get everyone to run away from this area. I ran away from the car park, jumping through the back [yard] of houses.'

Pictured: Grieving members of the public after the shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand

Members of a family react outside the mosque following the shooting in Christchurch

Al-Mahmoud said the man was 'wearing a helmet' and must have fired 'hundreds' of gunshots.

Another witness said he ran behind the mosque to call the police after hearing the gun go off.

'I heard the sound of the gun. And the second one I heard, I ran. Lots of people were sitting on the floor. I ran behind the mosque, rang the police.

'I saw one gun on the floor. Lots of people died and injured.'

Another survivor, identified only as Nour, told the New Zealand Herald that the gunman shot multiple worshipers outside before carrying out his rampage inside the mosque where he shot people indiscriminately.

A man wearing military fatigues (pictured) was arrested outside Papanui High School

A man who identified himself as Brenton Tarrant (pictured) live-streamed the massacre of dozens of people in Christchurch, New Zealand

A sickening 17-minute video of the unfolding horror shows the self-confessed white supremacist dressed in army fatigues firing mercilessly at people scrambling to flee, and calmly reloading when he runs out of bullets.

At about the same time, there was a second shooting at Masjid mosque in Linwood, where seven more were killed.

In the aftermath of the bloody attacks, three men and one woman were arrested, with police charging 'one man in his late 20s' with murder.

A man wearing military fatigues was arrested outside Papanui High School.

Of the 49 fatalities, 41 were killed at the Al Noor Mosque and seven at the Linwood Avenue mosque. Three were outside the mosque itself. A 49th died in hospital.

A further 48 people were rushed to Christchurch Hospital with gunshot wounds, 20 in a critical condition.